Nicolas Berggruen
![Nicolas Berggruen](/assets/img/authors/nicolas-berggruen.jpg)
Nicolas Berggruen
Nicolas Berggruenis a philanthropist and investor. A dual American and German citizen, he is the founder and president of Berggruen Holdings, a private investment company and the Berggruen Institute, a think tank that works on addressing governance issues as well as the cultures and philosophies behind political systems. Through the Berggruen Institute he is also a co-founder with the Huffington Post of The WorldPost, a media publication dedicated to global issues...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionEntrepreneur
Date of Birth10 August 1961
CityParis, France
CountryUnited States of America
The biggest determinant in our lives is culture, where we are born, what the environment looks like. But the second biggest determinant is probably governance, good governance or a certain kind of governance makes a huge difference in our lives.
I felt I was owned by possessions.
I don't get that much enjoyment out of saying 'I own it.'
Brunch is boring, but that's part of the charm of it.
In my teens I was interested in photography. Then I decided that I should learn something about the world of commerce. And I came to America at age 17 to escape Europe. I went to NYU - nothing better than being 17 years old and coming to New York.
Whatever I own is temporary, since we're only here for a short period of time. It's what we do and produce, it's our actions that will last forever. That's real value.
Think of everything in Seattle - Microsoft, Amazon, Starbucks. Then you go down to Silicon Valley - Intel, Apple, Google, Facebook, Twitter. What does New York produce?